Great Courage Needed To Stay in College

Note: Just thought this was interesting at back-to-school time, and to look at the historical perspective. Not sure of the exact date, but dad was a freshman in college in 1940.

Great Courage Needed To Stay in College
Says Dr. Stoffer

(Topeka Daily Capital or Washburn newspaper)

“It takes a great deal of courage to stay in college in the present times,” Dr. Bryan B. Stoffer, president, said last Friday at the freshman induction chapel, in his address “The Power to See It Thru.”

President Stoffer cited the example of Christ’s necessity for strong determination in winning His battles, pointing out that the same determination is now necessary to survive.

Glenn Cogswell, President of the student council, gave the welcoming address; Frank Eckert gave the response for the freshman class. Miss Betty Heaton played a violin solo, “The Dance of the Marionettes,” by Winternitz. She was accompanied by Betty Collins.

The Rev. L.E. Schwartz, pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian church, offered the invocation. Mr. Donald L. Coats played the processional, “Festival Processional,” by Rinck, and the recessional, “Toccata,” by Mailly.

‘Casanova Cogswell’

In a 1942-1943 Washburn University newspaper column entitled “I Only Heard” by Icha Bunk, the following article appeared, featuring “Casanova Cogswell.”

“If mudslinging is what the readers want, that’s what they’re going to get. So just remember, all you guys and gals, if you don’t like the way your name is slung around in this column, you’re the ones who asked for it!

"Another year has rolled around, and again it is time for Casanova Cogswell, now a senior, to pick himself out a nice new freshman glamour girl to rush. All eyes of the campus are turned upon him to see who will be his next victim. It is rumored that the odds are two to one for a certain little Lois Lacey.”

Even if it was rumored he had his eye on Lois Lacey during his senior year, Glenn was apparently still good friends with Royce Palmer, who, along with him, was elected "Most Decorative" in their junior year. It was Royce who wrote to him when he was away at officers' training in Chicago which caused Glenn to miss attending Washburn's 1943 graduation ceremony.

Royce Palmer, Glenn Cogswell, Best Looking

Washburn Names ‘Decorative’ Pair

Royce Palmer and Glenn Cogswell, junior students at Washburn University, have been chosen as the most decorative man and woman on the campus, their pictures to be featured in the ’42 issue of the Kaw, Washburn college yearbook...

Kaw editor Elizabeth Stanley and Business Manager John Evans explained that the soldiers were asked to make the selections in order to avoid partiality.

After looking over the pictures, the soldiers declared: “All these boys look like good Army material.”

Evans, who supervised the judging, explained that he had a difficult time hanging onto the pictures, since the soldiers thought the girls would make dandy “pin-up” girls. And he had to keep on his toes to keep the girls’ phone numbers to himself, since the entire judging had to be kept secret and free of prejudice.

Instead of the somewhat trite titles of “king” and “queen,” Miss Palmer and Cogswell will be designated “the most decorative” man and woman on the Washburn campus.

Selection of the two was made Saturday night by the board of five Fort Riley soldiers. The soldiers made their decisions after viewing pictures of the ten nominees for the woman’s honor and the nine candidates for the men’s position.

Miss Palmer, a queen in the 1941 Kaw, is the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Oscar Palmer, 1812 Willow. She is a member of the Ichadettes, Delta Phi Delta, Press club and Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

Cogswell Into Navy

Cogswell, who is a member od the executive committee of the Shawnee County Young Republican club, has been affiliated with the International Relations club and belongs to Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. Son of Mr. And Mrs. C.C. Cogswell, 2109 North Kansas, he will enter training for a commission as ensign in the navy upon completion of his school work.

Glenn’s Little Family

Glenn’s first-born daughter, Carolyn, arrived November 25, 1946, at Stormont-Vail Hospital, Topeka. Someone took lots of pictures of the first-born: Carolyn and Jean, 1946; one-month-old Carolyn with Jean, Nana, Granddad and Uncle John as soon as the grandparents and the uncle arrived from England; separate shots of Carolyn with Mom, with Dad and with Nana at the Rose Garden; Carolyn with her doll and a stroller; Carolyn on her tricycle; Daddy holding Carolyn as he graduates from law school in 1947; and Daddy reading to Carolyn in a stuffed chair.

Glenn’s son, David, arrived September 21, 1949. By then, Glenn had already passed the bar, formed a law firm and been elected Judge of the Court of Topeka. As many pictures as there had been of Carolyn, there now appeared of Carolyn and David together: Carolyn shooting a water pistol into David’s mouth, as he sat in a high chair; Carolyn lifting David up off the ground in front of the house; David and Carolyn with Grandpa and a dapple gray pony; David and Carolyn in matching red and white striped jackets Nana made for them when they went to New Orleans with Mom and Dad; David and Caroyn brushing their teeth in the doorway at 711 Park Lane.

Those were the times before the trouble, when Glenn and Jean, Carolyn and David were an intact family. No one knew how times would change, but for a brief and significant space of time, the Glenn D. Cogswells were a normal family, and, other than an argument now and then, a happy family, as far as David and Carolyn knew. Maybe the trouble began when Glenn's political career taking off.